A joint release from the Governor’s Office and Guam Visitors Bureau
“After recording the best Fiscal Year in the history of tourism, it’s great to see the month of October jump start arrivals for FY2017. Congratulations to the Guam Visitors Bureau and its tourism partners. Biba Guam!”
                                     — Governor Eddie Baza Calvo
Best October recorded
Nov. 11, 2016 (Hagåtña) — Guam welcomed 122,534 visitors in October 2016, a 9.1% increase over October 2015. With smart marketing strategies, the Guam Visitors Bureau, working with their tourism partners made this the best October in history of tourism. The top five reasons why visitors came to Guam in October included a holiday trip, wedding or honeymoon, company sponsored travel, business travel and visiting friends and family.
“The hard working men and women of our tourism industry continue to welcome our guests with open arms and that is creating great momentum with the consistent influx of visitor arrivals over the last several months,” said Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio. “On behalf of the Calvo Tenorio administration, I want to thank everyone for sharing the Håfa Adai spirit and doing their part in making Guam a better place to live, work and visit.”
There were 10,242 visitors who visited Guam’s shores in October 2015.
Growth and diversification continue to be present in the major markets, with Guam’s second top visitor market of Korea recording 29% more travelers, the biggest increase in October when compared to the previous year. Arrivals from the Philippines also increased by 82.3%.
“It’s no easy task to take tourism to new heights, but we remain focused on diversifying and growing our visitor markets to achieve tangible results that benefit the entire community,” said GVB President and CEO Nathan Denight. “Tourism works for everyone. It creates over 20,000 jobs for the island and provides funding to support programs, events and activities that sustain our culture and way of life. We are proud of the progress to transform Guam into a world class destination of choice and thank everyone for supporting our number one industry.”
Summary of arrivals
Guam recorded 122,534 visitors for October 2016, a 9.1% increase when compared to 2015. Total Calendar Year-to-Date arrivals also increased by 9.7%.
Although Japan arrivals decreased by 4.1%, Korea arrivals saw an increase of 29%. GVB continues to network with travel agents and travel trade professionals to improve visitor numbers from both of its top visitor markets. The Guam Ko’ko’ Kids Fun Run and Guam Ko’ko’ Road Races also helped support a boost in visitor arrivals. Increases were noted by the GVB Research Department in the days leading up to the dual GVB signature events.
Meanwhile, Guam’s other visitor markets experienced an influx in arrivals. The Russia Federation increased by 37.4%, while arrivals from Taiwan rose by 27.3% and the Philippines increased 82.3%. Additionally, other countries that saw a boost in visitor arrivals include Hong Kong by 11.1%, Canada by 24.6%, Thailand by 6.1%, Hawaii by 45.3% and the U.S. mainland by 13.9%.
October 2016 Preliminary Arrival Summary
October Banner Arrivals

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